Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

E39 (1997 - 2003) The BMW 5-Series (E39 chassis) was introduced in the United States as a 1997 model year car and lasted until the 2004 when the E60 chassis was released. The United States saw several variations including the 525i, 528i, 530i and 540i. -- View the E39 Wiki

Hello Jason. I checked your pics related to the DISA. I had a somewhat similar landscape inside the manifold, but with far less "grains". Also, I never had the said "grains" on the DISA.
The "grains" I am talking about are the little sand-like protrusions that are "welded" by the sludged/burned oil I saw inside your manifold as well. Feels almost like sandpaper to the bare hand.
I have also spied some welded sand on the side of the manifold (round opening) where the DISA should seal. Again, I never had that on my car. Maybe dust gets sucked in somwhere and it gets stuck to the manifold walls by the oil mist, then it just gets glued-on by heat.

The ICV which is just below (together with the TB) was also carboned-up solid. It didn't move at all when I tried to shake it. Took quite a while to clean the sucker. After that it would turn freely when I moved it in my hand. The TB was also gunked up on both sides. Not sure how it worked. Had no codes. Plugged in the GT1 and there were no pending codes either.

Yep...
I was quite surprised when looking into the Intake Manifold, and seeing the huge amount of dried grit and oxidized oil caked on the inside...

Pictures:

Oil sludged-up at the base of the flapper and pin:

Upper rubber edge of Flapper "framework" missing it's edging - in order to seal correctly when the Flapper closes:

I first rubbed the inside of the Intake Manifold with my fingers, and I could feel some sand.
However, once I took a shop towel with cleaner to it, most of the grit stayed, because it was still caked on...
I plan on completely removing the intake, and cleaning (soaking it), or, possibly replacing it completely...

Since my family and I have been here, I have noticed HUGE amounts of sand that builds-up inside my engine bay, and in between the Intake runners.

Also, I am not sure if my stock OEM intake box is bad, since there seems to HUGE amounts of sand getting into the Intake... - Not good...!

Also note, that AFTER I cleaned the Disa, and applied some Meguiar's Plastic and Rubber Conditioner to the Disa, my car drives MUCH better...!
The lag, and hesitation when accelerating is gone...!
The car's acceleration is MUCH more linear, and seems to have more oomph...
LOL!

I viewed Gary's Disa Kit (from German Auto Solutions) and I did not see that his kit replaces the rubber the sits within the framework for the flapper to make a good seal.

IMO, Gary's kit only addresses half of the issues with the Disa...
Like all rubber and plastic on these cars, it deteriorates over time.

Gary needs to supply a replacement for the rubber framework around the flapper, when the flapper closes...

It looks like purchasing a brand new Disa is the only/ unfortunate solution...

That is interesting that your ICV was so badly clogged...
What oil were you using, and what oil are you using now...?

Too true. I have a 25 year old Celica All Trac Turbo with a variable intake similar in concept to DISA and it still works as it should. There are no plastic parts in the Toyota design. Toyota design uses dual intake runners for each cylinder and individual throttle butterflies for the secondary runners for each cylinder. At rpm above ~3000, the butterflies open to admit more airflow. At lower rpm, they stay shut for higher velocity in the intake charge and more torque. I have almost 200K miles on that engine and it still runs reliably. I love my bimmers but the only one that came close to the Toyota in reliability and durability was my long gone 89 535i 5 spd.

Something isn't right with your car, but I'm not sure what.
Why do you suspect the WP? How long did you had it for and what brand? Also, that fan sure is very loose, to say the least. The fan clutch looks like it's not working, even if you lost the bearing on the WP. The belt is still turning, and there should be some resistance in that fan clutch.
Even the toast fan clutch I had wasn't that sloppy. Did you monitor the KTMP?

There is the marble in a can sound of bad bearings, but I cannot discern where it comes from.

Something isn't right with your car, but I'm not sure what.
Why do you suspect the WP? How long did you had it for and what brand? Also, that fan sure is very loose, to say the least. The fan clutch looks like it's not working, even if you lost the bearing on the WP. The belt is still turning, and there should be some resistance in that fan clutch.
Even the toast fan clutch I had wasn't that sloppy. Did you monitor the KTMP?

There is the marble in a can sound of bad bearings, but I cannot discern where it comes from.

Yep, something is very wrong...
My mechanic thinks the water pump is not original, however, I disagree.
I have a new Emp water pump ready to install in my garage for quite some time now...
I think the fan and fan clutch are original as well.

I have never unlocked my car's low OBC before in order to read the Ktmp.

By unlocking the KTMP, I was able to be 100% sure that my fan clutch was toast. With the same method, I noticed higher than usual temps when I had Evans instead of the blue coolaid.
Both times I was right.